“Zombie” mammalian cells that may function better after they die have been created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico (UNM).

The simple technique coats a cell with a silica solution to form a near-perfect replica of its structure. The process may simplify a wide variety of commercial fabrication processes from the nano- to macroscale. It’s also allowing scientists to preserve cells down to the minor grooves of its DNA.

The work uses the cells as templates, or molds, on which to deposit silica. From the living cell, this process creates hardened silica structures that look the same as the previously living cell, but can survive greater pressures and temperatures than flesh ever could, and can perform some functions better than when they were alive.